Members racing thread
Discussion
Lindun said:
It’s what Toni and Mark were talking about on Sunday. It would need to be a stand-alone probably international event to make it viable though.
I'm not trying to sound like it's impossible, as I think it'd be great However, I can't see them making it happen without it being part of the EWC, which is run by the FIM and even they only have 2 24hour rounds
Is there a market for a privateer club level 24hour race, I'm not sure ?
I can't see me putting a team together for it though, as the costs would be silly.
Just to get an idea, I reckon you're looking for a team:
20+ sets of tyres
300ltrs of Fuel
4 sets of brake pads
And that's before you even start to think about oil etc which although is fine for a 10hour race, if you add another 140% onto that, you're going to want to figure in an oil change per bike
Then, all the electronics that go with fitting lights, and the implications of fitting s
tty ones that fall on the track.I was lucky at the Anglesey 10hr, as the ride was paid for by the team, but I think it was something like £1400 to enter, so a 24hour is going to be double that at least, as the cost of the circuit to have around the clock staff will be huge
I don’t doubt the costs would be silly and you’d need a big rider team to factor in sleep breaks and the like too.
The Anglesey round was just over £1000 to enter per team, but like you say tyres, oil and other consumables will soon push those costs up for a 24 hour one. Not everyone is working on a top end bike with a top end budget though, so some will manage it on a shoestring.
Probably not for me anyway, I reckon this is possibly my last year.
The Anglesey round was just over £1000 to enter per team, but like you say tyres, oil and other consumables will soon push those costs up for a 24 hour one. Not everyone is working on a top end bike with a top end budget though, so some will manage it on a shoestring.
Probably not for me anyway, I reckon this is possibly my last year.
Here's my report from the Anglesey 10hour round
Originally, we had a team together to race at this round, but as with all things, trying to get everyone to fully commit was proving tough, and one of the members then had a bike smashed up racing somewhere else, so it just wasn't meant to be and we decided against it.
Fast forward to a couple of months back, and Nathan from CT racing gave me a call and asked if I'd like to guest on their team along with James Skelding, who I race with in Sprints and I know is a quick lad. A free ride's a free ride, and Nath and the team are a real good bunch, so it was a no brainer and I joined CT for the 10hour.
I raced at Snetterton a couple of weeks before, and unforutnately, my engine expired, so a few quick phone calls and it was booked in for a refresh to be done and ready to collect on the Thursday night on the way up to Anglesey
Friday test day started off wet, so I missed the first session. 2nd session came around and bike appeared to be running great until I pulled out the pitlane and realised I had no quickshifter. I know that some people ride without a quickshifter perfectly well, but I've never actually had a sports bike without one in the 3 and a bit year's I've been riding motorbikes, so for me it was a tough learning curve on the test day to learn how to go 'Old school' on an R1 and use the clutch and throttle to change gears. I do it on my CRF150 Pit bike, but it's a different animal to my R1, and after locking the back wheel a few times going into corners, I had to quickly get the hang of it.
Test day went without issue other than the QS and we got all set up and ready for Saturday.
The guys in CT racing are super well organised, and although it's the riders that tend to get credit when things go well, it's what happens behind the scenes that can make or break a good result. We had a good team meeting friday night, and we went though a load of strategies. Little things are covered that might not be instantly obvious, such as nominating certain points around the track for getting a transponder back, as lots of time is wasted in Endurance racing where a rider crashes or a bike breaks down, and the rider then runs one way around the track, whilst the team are going the other, and it's easy to lose a lot of time if the rider has to run 1.5 miles or more back to the pits. CT had a track map with a process for no matter where you crashed or broke down, you always knew your closest point where the team would find you on a mountain bike and get the transponder back to the garage for the next rider. They also had a masseur (who happened to have some big old jugs, which is always a bonus) and someone who would prepare food and teas for everyone. That, along with a really well organised garage and pitfall crew made for a very slick operation.
Qualifying was pretty hectic, and it was hard to get a clear lap in, so we ended up qualifying in 9th with a time that I set of 1:34, which although wasn't going to set the world alight, James was due to start, and he's mega at starting races.
The race got underway at 10:30, and James was in P2 by the first turn. We settled on a plan of 40min stints initially, and then drop down to 30mins later in the race.
The strategy got mixed around a little bit when James' rear shock let go, and we stepped back around 30mins on the stint allocations, but the team quickly had the shock out the bike, and over with the KTech engineers, who had it rebuilt and back with us in 30mins (and £110) which was great service
Unfortunately, when refitting the tank, there must've been a fuel pump wire trapped and damaged, as James's next stint ended up with a bike abandoned on the side of the track, and a lap or so lost to getting it back onto the next bike and out the garage.
Time wise, Anglesey's a pretty physical track with the hard braking and low speed drive out the corners, so it wasn't possible to go super hard lap after lap. I found I could settle into a pretty ok rythm constantly hitting high 33's/low 34's and my best laps of the race were only high 32's. Jame's pace was pretty similar or a little quicker on his own bike, but on one of the other team bikes, he could still hit regular 35's.
Best team lap of the race was James with a 31 on about his third lap, which he soon realised wasn't sustainable for anything more than about 5 laps
We finished up in third place in the Club 1000 Class and 7th overall, which although isn't a win, was very welcome as towards the end of the race after the incidents, we had to fight hard to get back past the team that ended up in 5th and the team in 4th were hot on our tails for the last hour or so.
All the boys and girls in CT racing were exceptional and really welcomed me in. They run such a good show for endurance racing, I might end up doing a few more rounds with them in the future. The team has a real mix of ability in it, but the fun is there and after all, that's what we're here for and no one's getting a motogp call up on the Monday.
Here's a few pics
Originally, we had a team together to race at this round, but as with all things, trying to get everyone to fully commit was proving tough, and one of the members then had a bike smashed up racing somewhere else, so it just wasn't meant to be and we decided against it.
Fast forward to a couple of months back, and Nathan from CT racing gave me a call and asked if I'd like to guest on their team along with James Skelding, who I race with in Sprints and I know is a quick lad. A free ride's a free ride, and Nath and the team are a real good bunch, so it was a no brainer and I joined CT for the 10hour.
I raced at Snetterton a couple of weeks before, and unforutnately, my engine expired, so a few quick phone calls and it was booked in for a refresh to be done and ready to collect on the Thursday night on the way up to Anglesey
Friday test day started off wet, so I missed the first session. 2nd session came around and bike appeared to be running great until I pulled out the pitlane and realised I had no quickshifter. I know that some people ride without a quickshifter perfectly well, but I've never actually had a sports bike without one in the 3 and a bit year's I've been riding motorbikes, so for me it was a tough learning curve on the test day to learn how to go 'Old school' on an R1 and use the clutch and throttle to change gears. I do it on my CRF150 Pit bike, but it's a different animal to my R1, and after locking the back wheel a few times going into corners, I had to quickly get the hang of it.
Test day went without issue other than the QS and we got all set up and ready for Saturday.
The guys in CT racing are super well organised, and although it's the riders that tend to get credit when things go well, it's what happens behind the scenes that can make or break a good result. We had a good team meeting friday night, and we went though a load of strategies. Little things are covered that might not be instantly obvious, such as nominating certain points around the track for getting a transponder back, as lots of time is wasted in Endurance racing where a rider crashes or a bike breaks down, and the rider then runs one way around the track, whilst the team are going the other, and it's easy to lose a lot of time if the rider has to run 1.5 miles or more back to the pits. CT had a track map with a process for no matter where you crashed or broke down, you always knew your closest point where the team would find you on a mountain bike and get the transponder back to the garage for the next rider. They also had a masseur (who happened to have some big old jugs, which is always a bonus) and someone who would prepare food and teas for everyone. That, along with a really well organised garage and pitfall crew made for a very slick operation.
Qualifying was pretty hectic, and it was hard to get a clear lap in, so we ended up qualifying in 9th with a time that I set of 1:34, which although wasn't going to set the world alight, James was due to start, and he's mega at starting races.
The race got underway at 10:30, and James was in P2 by the first turn. We settled on a plan of 40min stints initially, and then drop down to 30mins later in the race.
The strategy got mixed around a little bit when James' rear shock let go, and we stepped back around 30mins on the stint allocations, but the team quickly had the shock out the bike, and over with the KTech engineers, who had it rebuilt and back with us in 30mins (and £110) which was great service
Unfortunately, when refitting the tank, there must've been a fuel pump wire trapped and damaged, as James's next stint ended up with a bike abandoned on the side of the track, and a lap or so lost to getting it back onto the next bike and out the garage.
Time wise, Anglesey's a pretty physical track with the hard braking and low speed drive out the corners, so it wasn't possible to go super hard lap after lap. I found I could settle into a pretty ok rythm constantly hitting high 33's/low 34's and my best laps of the race were only high 32's. Jame's pace was pretty similar or a little quicker on his own bike, but on one of the other team bikes, he could still hit regular 35's.
Best team lap of the race was James with a 31 on about his third lap, which he soon realised wasn't sustainable for anything more than about 5 laps
We finished up in third place in the Club 1000 Class and 7th overall, which although isn't a win, was very welcome as towards the end of the race after the incidents, we had to fight hard to get back past the team that ended up in 5th and the team in 4th were hot on our tails for the last hour or so.
All the boys and girls in CT racing were exceptional and really welcomed me in. They run such a good show for endurance racing, I might end up doing a few more rounds with them in the future. The team has a real mix of ability in it, but the fun is there and after all, that's what we're here for and no one's getting a motogp call up on the Monday.
Here's a few pics
graeme4130 said:
Lindun said:
Totally agree on the tyres. I think the change was that they wanted a guaranteed sell out and by making it a championship round it pretty much guaranteed it. That then forced their hand on tyres.
I had two pairs of RacetecRR K1s put aside for this race. I used both sets and the rear from stints 1 & 2 is paper thin on the right. I’m guessing the second rear is simIlar. It was all over the place at the end of my last stint round Rocket Out and Peel, but it was pretty cold up there by then anyway. I certainly won’t be riding on it again though.
All in all I thought it was a brilliantly run round and really well ridden in general with minimal flags / Safety Cars and the riders deserve a lot of credit for that too as it was done at a fair old pace.
Yeah, it was a great event and Mark and the team at NLR should be very proud I had two pairs of RacetecRR K1s put aside for this race. I used both sets and the rear from stints 1 & 2 is paper thin on the right. I’m guessing the second rear is simIlar. It was all over the place at the end of my last stint round Rocket Out and Peel, but it was pretty cold up there by then anyway. I certainly won’t be riding on it again though.
All in all I thought it was a brilliantly run round and really well ridden in general with minimal flags / Safety Cars and the riders deserve a lot of credit for that too as it was done at a fair old pace.
The riding was on the whole really good, and I didn’t see half as many crashes as I expected
There’s were quite a few bikes on the side of the track towards the end (including one from my team), but the marshals got everyone back quickly to sort transponders out
I’m not sure how they’re going to beat it next year, maybe a 12hr somewhere
[b]NLR Regulations:
2. Engine configurations and Displacement capacities
600
Over 400 up to 600cc 4-stroke 4 cylinder
Over 600 up to 675cc 4-stroke 3 cylinder
Over 600 up to 750cc 4-stroke 2 cylinder
The displacement capacities must remain at the homologated size. Modifying the bore and stroke to reach class limits is
not allowed. Dispensation will be given for all models of the Kawasaki ZX6R (636cc) to allow it to race in the 600cc 4
stroke 4 cylinder category but the rider must hold a valid Intermediate Novice Licence or higher.
1000
Over 600cc up to 1000cc 4 stroke 4 cylinders
Over 675cc up to 1100cc 4 stroke 3 cylinders
Over 750cc up to 1200cc 4 stroke water cooled 2 cylinders
Over 830cc up to 1300cc 4 stroke air cooled 2 cylinders[/b]
In short, it's the bit about holding a licence that throws me. Isn't everyone supposed to have one?
You can run the 636 in the 600 class
Licences refer to a race licence aka an ACU licence, not a road licence. You must have one of these to enter a race and join the race club that you want to race with.
Intermediate novice licence level is the base level, but reserved for those with a road licence, this allows you to ride any capacity bike. If you don’t hold a road licence then your first race licence will be a Novice licence and you will be restricted to a 600cc bike maximum.
Licences refer to a race licence aka an ACU licence, not a road licence. You must have one of these to enter a race and join the race club that you want to race with.
Intermediate novice licence level is the base level, but reserved for those with a road licence, this allows you to ride any capacity bike. If you don’t hold a road licence then your first race licence will be a Novice licence and you will be restricted to a 600cc bike maximum.
Edited by Lindun on Wednesday 31st July 01:02
Lindun said:
You can run the 636 in the 600 class
Licences refer to a race licence aka an ACU licence, not a road licence. You must have one of these to enter a race and join the race club that you want to race with.
Intermediate novice licence level is the base level, but reserved for those with a road licence, this allows you to ride any capacity bike. If you don’t hold a road licence then your first race licence will be a Novice licence and you will be restricted to a 600cc bike maximum.
Right, thanks. Yes I knew it was referring to ACU licence but couldn't understand why it was specified that you must have had a licence to enter the 600 category (with a 636) and not specified for the 1000cc where it seems you could also run your 636 but I guess that's when you're sLicences refer to a race licence aka an ACU licence, not a road licence. You must have one of these to enter a race and join the race club that you want to race with.
Intermediate novice licence level is the base level, but reserved for those with a road licence, this allows you to ride any capacity bike. If you don’t hold a road licence then your first race licence will be a Novice licence and you will be restricted to a 600cc bike maximum.
Edited by Lindun on Wednesday 31st July 01:02
t hot. J B L said:
Right, thanks. Yes I knew it was referring to ACU licence but couldn't understand why it was specified that you must have had a licence to enter the 600 category (with a 636) and not specified for the 1000cc where it seems you could also run your 636 but I guess that's when you're st hot.
It’s the wording of the two Novice licence levelst hot. Novice - no road licence restricted to a max 600cc bike, can’t run a 636
Intermediate novice - has a road licence no limits on bike capacity, can run a 636
Both still require a orange bib until you accrue enough signatures to upgrade to Club.
Bikesalot said:
Where's the pics of the masseur with the big jugs?
We need to be careful here and ensure the French is used correctly."Masseur" would be a bloke. Not a problem in itself but completely different type of massage.
"Masseuse" would be used for a lady. With or without big jugs, but a lady.
Sorry to be pedantic but I don't want to start seeing funny pics of massive moobs in BB.
Maybe that's just me.
J B L said:
We need to be careful here and ensure the French is used correctly.
"Masseur" would be a bloke. Not a problem in itself but completely different type of massage.
"Masseuse" would be used for a lady. With or without big jugs, but a lady.
Sorry to be pedantic but I don't want to start seeing funny pics of massive moobs in BB.
Maybe that's just me.
Haha, point well made "Masseur" would be a bloke. Not a problem in itself but completely different type of massage.
"Masseuse" would be used for a lady. With or without big jugs, but a lady.
Sorry to be pedantic but I don't want to start seeing funny pics of massive moobs in BB.
Maybe that's just me.
J B L said:
We need to be careful here and ensure the French is used correctly.
"Masseur" would be a bloke. Not a problem in itself but completely different type of massage.
"Masseuse" would be used for a lady. With or without big jugs, but a lady.
Sorry to be pedantic but I don't want to start seeing funny pics of massive moobs in BB.
Maybe that's just me.
Great point, well made, as you were."Masseur" would be a bloke. Not a problem in itself but completely different type of massage.
"Masseuse" would be used for a lady. With or without big jugs, but a lady.
Sorry to be pedantic but I don't want to start seeing funny pics of massive moobs in BB.
Maybe that's just me.
Where are the pictures of the Masseuse?
Seeing as there doesn't seem to be any official pics from the 10hr race anywhere yet, here's one that got sent to me from the army team
Coming into a pit change a little hot
Good to see that Stu, the CT racing crew chief isn't fazed by the pace and is still taking the transponder off despite my back wheel being a few inches off the ground
Coming into a pit change a little hot
Good to see that Stu, the CT racing crew chief isn't fazed by the pace and is still taking the transponder off despite my back wheel being a few inches off the ground
Race report, if anyone actually reads these
LUCKING FAST #53 @ Cadwell Park R7
Well, that was a race of two halves, to coin an overused football phrase.
This place isn’t my favourite track and I think it’s over 5 years since I was last here, so quite a bit of learning to do to get to grips with the place. Cadwell Park is better known as Landfill Park amongst my trackday buddies and we’ve now shared that with a couple of BSB team owners, so let’s see if any slip up this coming weekend. The test day on Friday wasn’t ideal for either of us with a very wet start and neither of us had any great desire to go out in that, so we sat out the morning. Thankfully it dried up in the afternoon and we managed to squeeze a few sessions in, although I’d cheated and got an extra day’s practice on a trackday on the Thursday.
Qualifying on Saturday was damp, but drying and the weather forecast for the whole day was all over the place and constantly changing. We took the sensible option of just getting a few laps in each, although that didn’t go exactly to plan. I went out first and did about 6 laps then came in to find my team mate’s bike in pieces, as the battery was dead.
He had no choice but to go out on mine, which was a bit tricky for him, as it’s set up very differently to his, not least the race shift on the gears. Three laps later he was back in and thankfully his bike was up and running so a few laps to get some charge into the bike.
We qualified P23 overall and P9 in class, not great, but given my dislike of the circuit and mechanical issues it was OK and in endurance racing you have a long time to catch up those in front.
I started the race, due to the risk of the other bike not starting on the grid being too much. A reasonable start saw us jump to P17 and gradually crept to P14 overall / P5 in class.
The first two stints were fairly uneventful, both of us putting in some good consistent laptimes in our 45 minute stints, with a best of 1min 41. Then it all went a bit mental.
I went out for my second stint with radar telling us a short 5 minute sprinkling of rain was due. I figured I could gamble on slicks and ride through the rain for the short downpour. Well, that didn’t happen, the short shower turned out to be a torrential downpour and the circuit was soaking wet in seconds. So one lap into a planned 45 minute run I was on completely the wrong tyres, thankfully most of the other riders were in a similar position.
Within one lap a couple of riders had crashed and the Safety Car came out. That meant that we could ride nice and slowly, but it also meant we had to stay out, or risk ruining the race completely. Three laps behind the Safety Car wasn’t going to be enough time for my teammate and helpers to get his wet tyres on, so I stayed out and rode round like a complete novice. After two laps I had to pit, as there were too many riders already out on wets.
By pitting I was going to catch my team by surprise, but the support team had done a great job getting him ready and they were almost set. Less than a minute after pitting he was out and it was all to play for.
His stint flew by and before I knew it, I was out to finish the race. Initially, I thought it was as simple as keeping Team Army 3 behind us, as Cable Tie Racing were 2 laps ahead of us.
However, not long into the stint, I caught and passed CT Racing so clawed one lap back. For some reason the bike felt perfect in the wet and I started to put some quick laps in getting down to a fastest of 1min 48 but consistent 1min 50s on a soaking wet track, whilst many of the other competitors were doing 1min 55 or longer laps.
I pretty much accepted that I wasn’t going to claw back another lap, but then with about 10 mins to go I caught CT Racing again. Then I started to dream had we just moved into 3rd place? Was this going to be our first ever podium in endurance?
Sadly not, they were actually three laps ahead, as they’d got another one during our last pit stop. So another 4th place, to consolidate our 4th place in the championship. Overall, I have to say that I’m very happy with the finishing position, it’s certainly a lot better than we thought we could achieve, due to my dislike of the track.
Normally I’d now say onto Round 8 at Donington Park for the 6 hour, but prior arrangements mean we’ll be missing that one. That could set up a real showdown for 4th place in the Championship at the final round at Croft with Team Army 3
LUCKING FAST #53 @ Cadwell Park R7
Well, that was a race of two halves, to coin an overused football phrase.
This place isn’t my favourite track and I think it’s over 5 years since I was last here, so quite a bit of learning to do to get to grips with the place. Cadwell Park is better known as Landfill Park amongst my trackday buddies and we’ve now shared that with a couple of BSB team owners, so let’s see if any slip up this coming weekend. The test day on Friday wasn’t ideal for either of us with a very wet start and neither of us had any great desire to go out in that, so we sat out the morning. Thankfully it dried up in the afternoon and we managed to squeeze a few sessions in, although I’d cheated and got an extra day’s practice on a trackday on the Thursday.
Qualifying on Saturday was damp, but drying and the weather forecast for the whole day was all over the place and constantly changing. We took the sensible option of just getting a few laps in each, although that didn’t go exactly to plan. I went out first and did about 6 laps then came in to find my team mate’s bike in pieces, as the battery was dead.
He had no choice but to go out on mine, which was a bit tricky for him, as it’s set up very differently to his, not least the race shift on the gears. Three laps later he was back in and thankfully his bike was up and running so a few laps to get some charge into the bike.
We qualified P23 overall and P9 in class, not great, but given my dislike of the circuit and mechanical issues it was OK and in endurance racing you have a long time to catch up those in front.
I started the race, due to the risk of the other bike not starting on the grid being too much. A reasonable start saw us jump to P17 and gradually crept to P14 overall / P5 in class.
The first two stints were fairly uneventful, both of us putting in some good consistent laptimes in our 45 minute stints, with a best of 1min 41. Then it all went a bit mental.
I went out for my second stint with radar telling us a short 5 minute sprinkling of rain was due. I figured I could gamble on slicks and ride through the rain for the short downpour. Well, that didn’t happen, the short shower turned out to be a torrential downpour and the circuit was soaking wet in seconds. So one lap into a planned 45 minute run I was on completely the wrong tyres, thankfully most of the other riders were in a similar position.
Within one lap a couple of riders had crashed and the Safety Car came out. That meant that we could ride nice and slowly, but it also meant we had to stay out, or risk ruining the race completely. Three laps behind the Safety Car wasn’t going to be enough time for my teammate and helpers to get his wet tyres on, so I stayed out and rode round like a complete novice. After two laps I had to pit, as there were too many riders already out on wets.
By pitting I was going to catch my team by surprise, but the support team had done a great job getting him ready and they were almost set. Less than a minute after pitting he was out and it was all to play for.
His stint flew by and before I knew it, I was out to finish the race. Initially, I thought it was as simple as keeping Team Army 3 behind us, as Cable Tie Racing were 2 laps ahead of us.
However, not long into the stint, I caught and passed CT Racing so clawed one lap back. For some reason the bike felt perfect in the wet and I started to put some quick laps in getting down to a fastest of 1min 48 but consistent 1min 50s on a soaking wet track, whilst many of the other competitors were doing 1min 55 or longer laps.
I pretty much accepted that I wasn’t going to claw back another lap, but then with about 10 mins to go I caught CT Racing again. Then I started to dream had we just moved into 3rd place? Was this going to be our first ever podium in endurance?
Sadly not, they were actually three laps ahead, as they’d got another one during our last pit stop. So another 4th place, to consolidate our 4th place in the championship. Overall, I have to say that I’m very happy with the finishing position, it’s certainly a lot better than we thought we could achieve, due to my dislike of the track.
Normally I’d now say onto Round 8 at Donington Park for the 6 hour, but prior arrangements mean we’ll be missing that one. That could set up a real showdown for 4th place in the Championship at the final round at Croft with Team Army 3
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